Top Ten: Football transfers that shocked the world

2) Pele

In 1975, the North American Soccer League and Pele started a symbiotic relationship which proved to be mutually beneficial for both of them. The league needed some charisma; Pele, who has retired two years before, needed the money. “I come to play in America because I believe in soccer in America”, said Pele on his arrival at New York Cosmos.

The transfer could not have been completed without the efforts of Gerald Ford, then American president, who had to persuade the president of Brazil to give the deal his blessing.

Pele’s move persuaded other greats to live the American dream. Crowds peaked at eighty thousand. Cosmos won the title in Pele’s final season – the game of soccer had its Hollywood ending.